OREGON – An Ogle County judge on Monday denied a Malta man’s request to reconsider his life prison sentence for the 2020 murder of a Mt. Morris woman and her unborn son.

Matthew Plote, 37, filed a motion through his attorneys John Kopp and Liam Dixon on July 22 asking Judge John “Ben” Roe to reconsider the sentence because he (Plote) had no other criminal history and should have received a lesser sentence.

“This individual (Plote) has lived a law-abiding life and has used his skills to save lives up to this point,” Dixon argued at Monday’s hearing.

An Ogle County jury found Plote guilty of killing 27-year-old Melissa Lamesch on November 25, 2020, just one day before Thanksgiving and two days before the expected birth of her baby.

The jury deliberated for two hours on March 22 before finding Plote guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child, and one count each of arson of a dwelling, aggravated domestic violence and concealment of a death.

Roe called it a “brutal crime” and sentenced Plote to life in prison on June 27 after hearing victim impact statements from Lamesch’s mother, father and sister, as well as arguments from his lawyers.

Roe said he reviewed all arguments and evidence and sentenced Plote, in addition to the life sentence, to 60 years in prison for the baby’s death and 15 years in prison for setting fire to the Lamesch family home to cover up the deaths. The sentences will be served concurrently.

On Monday, Dixon asked Roe to reconsider the ruling, arguing that the brutal nature of the crime should not have been taken into account in Roe’s weighing of factors in the sentencing process.

“The jury found him guilty of a brutal crime,” Dixon said. “It’s almost a double whammy when it’s taken into account at his sentencing.”

Assistant District Attorney Heather Kruse disagreed.

“We believe the court made an appropriate decision in imposing sentences,” she said, adding that the state contends the killings were “cold, calculated and premeditated.”

“We are alleging intent, not brutal reinforcement,” Kruse told Roe.

In their motion for retrial, Kopp and Dixon argued that the sentences imposed by Roe were “cruel and unusual punishment and a shock to the moral sensibilities of the community.”

Roe said the punishments were appropriate considering that Lamesch was “fighting for her life and that of her young son” for four to six minutes while she was being strangled.

Plote, who is being held at the Stateville prison in Joliet, waived his right to appear at Monday’s hearing, Dixon said.

After Roe denied the motion for retrial, Liam announced that he would again appeal the verdict and conviction to the Illinois State Court of Appeals.

In July, the defense filed motions asking the Illinois Court of Appeals to overturn the convictions or order a retrial. The appeals did not provide any arguments as to why the convictions and sentences should be overturned.

Court documents show that Plote is now indigent and will be assigned an appellate defense attorney for the appeal process.

Lamesch was found lying on her kitchen floor, breathing and covered in soot and debris, when Mt. Morris firefighters forced entry into her South Hannah Avenue home at approximately 4:30 p.m. on November 25, 2020.

When she was dragged from the burning house and placed in an ambulance, there was no electrical activity in her heart, and she was pronounced dead at 4:54 p.m., firefighters said.

During the trial, investigators accused Plote, a paramedic from Carol Stream, of strangling Lamesch because he did not want the birth of his son to interfere with his “carefree playboy lifestyle.”

In an initial police interview on November 25, 2020, Plote told investigators that Lamesch wanted him to take care of the baby, but he initially “did not agree” and went to her home to “sort things out.”

Plote told police he stayed at Lamesch’s house for “about an hour” and they talked at the kitchen table before moving to the couch to have what he described as consensual sex. He said he then left the house through the front door.

He chose not to testify during the jury trial.

Cassie Baal, Lamesch’s older sister, told jurors that she was talking to her sister on the phone when Plote showed up at the family home on the day of her death.

“She said she would keep the conversation brief and call me back right away,” Baal testified.

The prosecution argued that Lamesch never called Baal back because Plote killed her and then set fire to the house.

Kruse argued that Plote intentionally put an entire neighborhood in danger when he set fire to the house after killing Lamesch. She said the crimes were particularly “sick” because Plote was in a profession that was supposed to help people.

She argued for a life sentence, saying the evidence at trial indicated that Lamesch died fighting for her life and that of her baby.

A forensic scientist at the Illinois State Police Forensics Laboratory in Rockford testified that Plote’s DNA was found in fingernail swabs from Lamesch’s right and left hands. He also said semen found in Lamesch’s vagina matched Plote’s profile, as did cheek swabs from the dead baby.

Forensic pathologists Dr. Mark Peters and Dr. Amanda Youmans told jurors that Lamesch was strangled before firefighters rescued her from her burning home.

They testified that Lamesch suffered abrasions on her face and scalp and bruising on her legs and thighs before her death, and that no elevated levels of carbon monoxide were detected in Lamesch’s blood. Her “full-term male fetus” showed no abnormalities. Lamesch also suffered only minimal thermal wounds, they testified.

Youmans said Lamesch’s neck, face, eyes and larynx all showed signs of strangulation. Bleeding in the muscles of her neck was also caused by pressure in that area, and when she cleaned soot and dirt from Lamesch’s body, she discovered other injuries that she said were consistent with “blunt force.”

These injuries, Youmans said, were found on Lamesch’s forehead, head and temple and were consistent with “multiple blows to her head.” She said her injuries were consistent with “fighting back.”

Dixon argued at the sentencing that Plote had spent his entire career helping people as a paramedic and was also an Eagle Scout. He asked the court to consider Plote’s “zero criminal history” before making a decision.

When Roe asked if he would like to make a statement before the verdict, Plote replied quietly: “I share the pain and loss of Melissa and Barrett.”

Lamesch graduated from Oregon High School in 2011 and worked as an emergency medical technician with Trace Ambulance Service in Tinley Park. She moved back into her family home in October 2020 and her labor was scheduled to be induced on November 27, 2020.

According to court documents, Plote was transferred from the Ogle County Jail to the Northern Reception and Classification Center at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet.